The Insurance Council of British Columbia (ICoBC) has fined Masoud Kamyabi $1,000 for not informing a client that her whole life policy was active, for insufficient record keeping and note-taking procedures, and for responding to medical questions from the insurer’s underwriter without first consulting his client.

First licensed as a life and accident and sickness insurance agent in November 2020, Kamyabi met with the complaining client and sold her a whole life policy in July 2022. The plan included obtaining medical approval for the policy application before obtaining approval for an immediate financing arrangement (IFA).

“The licensee stated that the complainant agreed to prepare the financial documents for an IFA suitability review, but couldn’t provide copies of the financial documents because she had difficulty locating a new accountant,” the intended decision in the case states.

That same month, the insurance company’s underwriter contacted Kamyabi to verify some of the client’s medical history. Kamyabi says he verified the information with the complaining client over the phone. The client denies this. “The licensee stated that the answers to the underwriter’s questions were consistent with the information that the complainant had already included on the application form, so he communicated this to the underwriter,” the intended decision continues.

August 2, 2022 the insurer emailed a copy of the policy to Kamyabi with delivery and settlement instructions which needed to be carried out within 45 days. The client did not want to activate the policy and Kamyabi says he thought the policy was not active because it had not yet been signed. The agent also says he intended to deliver the policy and the IFA together once both were approved. (The IFA application still required copies of the client’s financial information at the time, before it could proceed.)

Although Kamyabi says he provided a physical copy of his reasons why letter and agent disclosure form in August that year, the complainant says these were not actually delivered until March the following year. “The licensee was unable to provide any evidence demonstrating that he provided these documents to the complainant in August 2022.” 

The client made her complaint to the insurer when premiums were withdrawn from her account. She did not receive the full premiums amounts when she cancelled the policy, “although the insurer refunded her the cash surrender value.” At the time she told the company that she was not interested in purchasing the policy because she was considering a career change – a fact omitted in the reasons why letter and during the know your client process.

“The licensee expressed that he was a new agent at the time of the incident, has learned a lot from this experience and has since implemented changes to his practice,” the intended decision continues.

The argument was somewhat successful. Because he was a new agent, because his actions were unintentional and isolated in nature and because he has since changed his practice, the council says only a small fine is appropriate in the case. “It felt that formal discipline would be beneficial in guiding his practice.”

To that end, the council also ordered Kamyabi to complete the Council Rules Course, three ethics courses, a know your client and fact-finding compliance course and The Challenge of Documenting Nothing course, available through Advocis.

The agent was additionally assessed investigation costs in the amount of $2,875 and must be supervised for one year of active licensing.